“This grant from the Canada Research Chairs Program highlights and boosts the promising work of our two new chairholders,” said Sylvain Charbonneau, vice-president, research and innovation. “Their research excellence and impact will help develop our knowledge in these fields which are important to Canada.”
The new Tier 2 Canada Research Chairs:
Augusto Gerolin (Faculty of Science, jointly appointed at the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics) — Canada Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence at the Interface of Chemistry and Mathematics
Professor Gerolin aims to make computational chemistry and materials science truly predictive, a goal that, if fully achieved, would have enormous consequences in terms of both economic and environmental sustainability. To achieve this, Gerolin is developing reliable, computational, affordable and mathematically rigorous approximations of the quantum many-electron part of these calculations. His approach pushes theoretical and computational limits, combining ideas, tools, concepts and methods from artificial intelligence, mathematics, quantum physics and theoretical chemistry.
Erin Maloney (Faculty of Social Sciences, School of Psychology) — Canada Research Chair in Academic Achievement and Well-being
Professor Maloney takes an intergenerational approach to studying the influence of cognitive and emotional factors such as anxieties, stereotypes and stress that underlie children’s academic success in mathematics and science. In particular, her research focuses on the way parents transmit these factors to their children and the success that the children later have in these academic subjects.
Her research has also received infrastructure funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) so that she can use the AROW (Accessible Research on Wheels) vehicle. This Mercedes Sprinter van has been retrofitted to create a state-of-the-art mobile lab, allowing Professor Maloney to conduct ground-breaking research under controlled, laboratory-based conditions in locations convenient for participants. The AROW will allow for increased diversity within study participants as it helps to remove financial and physical barriers to participating in traditional campus-based labs.